COBRT's Positions on 2016 Ballot Initiatives

This November, residents in the Denver metro area will be voting on ten different regional or statewide initiatives that will bring dramatic changes to Colorado if approved by the voters. In addition, voters will be voting on a new President, state Senator, and all seven members of Congress as well as numerous local issues. 

This year, 158 different titles were submitted to the Office of Secretary of State. Of those, nine proceeded with signature collection and turned in boxes and boxes of signatures for verification. 

Supported by COBRT:

  • SCFD reauthorization. Regional issue for those within the district (seven metro counties) that would extend the penny-per-$10.00 sales tax. The allocation of funds has been tweaked to provide additional support for local community organizations. The economic activity of $1,850,000,000.00 make this a valuable asset and resource and worthy of our support. 
  • Amendment 71, Raise the Bar. Raise the Bar aims to protect our state constitution and ensure the voice of all Coloradans is heard. Mandates that 2% of the signatures required to amend the constitution come from each of our state’s 35 senate districts and raises the threshold from 50+1 to 55+1. Every election cycle, businesses have had to dip into their wallets and fight off onerous, crippling initiates with signatures collected from a small subset of the state’s voters. Ensuring voters in Pueblo, Grand Junction, Fort Collins and other communities have a say in matters that impact the entire state makes sense. 

Opposed by COBRT:

  • Amendment 69, ColoradoCare. Proponents are wanting voters to approve a government-run universal healthcare system that would double the size of the state budget and create a risky, uncertain, and untested system. The cost to business and placing Colorado at a competitive disadvantage warrant defeating the proposal. 
  • Initiative 101, Minimum Wage Increase. Proponents would like to increase the minimum wage to $12.00. Colorado’s minimum wage is already above the national average and adjusts annually based on the underlying consumer inflation rate. We are concerned about job loss, wage compression, and the misconception that entry level, first-time job seekers need a living wage. We would like to create educational opportunities and training programs to help fill millions of unfilled jobs that pay above the living wage standard. 

Under Review by COBRT:

  • Let CO Vote, Initiatives 98, 140. Initiative 98 would allow 1.3 million unaffiliated/independent voters to participate in party primaries and Initiative 140 would restore the presidential primary in Colorado. 
  • Initiative 143, Cigarette and Tobacco Tax. Proposal would triple the cigarette tax and increase current tax on tobacco by 22%. Campaign for a Healthy Colorado argues this would slow tobacco usage with increased tax revenue being spent on education and prevention, cessation and research. 

No Position:

  • Amendment T was a referred measure from Colorado’s legislature (SCR 006). The concurrent resolution strikes an exception that exists to slavery and involuntary servitude that exists in Colorado’s Constitution.
  • Amendment U is another referred measure from the Colorado legislature (SCR 002). The concurrent resolution proposes amending the constitution to create an exemption from property taxation for possessory interests in real property.
  • Initiative 145, Medical Aid in Dying. Initiative would allow doctors to write life-ending prescriptions for terminally ill who have less than six months to live and want to die on their own terms.